Some memories never die. They make you feel warm on a cold night. They make you feel young again. VVS Laxman's 281 against Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and his 376-run partnership with Rahul Dravid at the Eden Gardens in March 2001 is one such treasure.

The importance of that knock cannot be overestimated. The match fixing scandal of the 1990s was still looming large. Sourav Ganguly had taken over as captain a year ago. John Wright, as the new coach, was discovering the strange ways of Indian cricket. Harbhajan Singh was a talented but wayward youngster. India had been mauled by Australia in the earlier Test in Mumbai and was facing a follow-on in Kolkata.

But as Laxman caressed and stroked the ball to all corners of the Eden Gardens on the third and fourth days of the Test match, and took the fight out of the Aussies, so many things fell in place for the batsman and India. A befuddled Australia was spun out by Harbhajan Singh on the last day, who repeated his match-winning performance in the last Test match, as India beat the all-conquering Australia in the series.

It was a victory that made Indian cricket, Ganguly and Wright believe in themselves and set the team on a path that culminated in it climbing to the top of the Test rankings and winning the World Cup a decade later. And it all started with Laxman's innings.

Rahul Dravid described it as the greatest innings he had ever seen. "We could both sense that we had done something unique, something that would define our careers from then on, irrespective of what we achieved or didn't achieve after that,'' wrote Dravid many years later.

If Laxman had done nothing of note after Eden Gardens, his position in India's cricket history would have been assured. But resting on his laurels was never an option. Over the next decade, along with his good mate Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, he forged the best batting line-up of the 2000s. Batting at No.5 and No.6, he always exuded calm and quiet confidence, often guiding the lower order as he played along with them. India knew that there was hope till Laxman was batting.

Over a career spanning 16 years, Laxman's average has been impressive (see chart). But more important, these runs came around the world against all types of attacks under varying conditions. In India's first and only Test victory on South African soil in Durban in 2010, Laxman top scored in both innings and his 96 in the second inning turned out to be a match-winning effort. But, Laxman reserved his best for Australia, the pre-eminent team of his times. Six of his 17 centuries came against them, and he played an instrumental role in securing three victories against them.

Less than three years after Eden Gardens, Laxman and Dravid combined again to notch up 303 runs against the Aussies in Adelaide to set up another almost impossible victory against Australia. Seven years later, in a nail-biting thriller in Mohali, Laxman and Ishant Sharma put on 81 runs for the ninth wicket as India beat Australia by one wicket with the master batsman remaining unbeaten on 73.

And yet, statistics only tell one side of a story. In Laxman's case, the story is, if anything, even more incomplete. For numbers can never capture the artistry and the elegance of his batting or the joy that his magical wristwork gave to millions of crickets fans. As sports writer Sharda Ugra wrote on Saturday in Cricinfo.com, he was a wizard among muggles.

Laxman was never rated very highly in the one-day game; his slow running between the wickets and lack of speed as a fielder going against him. The decision to drop him from the 2003 World Cup side was a bitter blow for him.

John Wright in his autobiography wrote about how he wondered why Laxman never featured in TV ads unlike his other team mates. He once tactlessly posed this question, only to be admonished by Sehwag. "He wasn't picked for the World Cup,'' said Sehwag. Laxman smiled silently.

But to prove a point, when he was recalled after the 2003 World Cup, Laxman scored five ODI centuries between October 2003 and March 2004, three of them in Australia and one in Pakistan. Incidentally, these also happen to be his five highest scores in the shorter version of the game.

There are two incidents that amply demonstrate that Laxman's class was not just confined to the cricket field. In 2008, when the IPL was set up, he surrendered his 'icon' status, so that his franchise, Deccan Chargers could bid more aggressively for other players.

The second incident relates to the manner of his retirement. He made his announcement on Saturday, without any fuss and without any grandstanding. "And while I would love contributing to the team's success...I think this is the right time to give the youngsters a chance in home conditions ahead of international condition,'' he said at his farewell press conference in Hyderabad.

Is India's greatest cricketer, who has expressed his desire to play for another five-six years listening to his soft-spoken team mate?